Machine for stretching and notching uppers



NITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD, OF WEST MEDFORD, ASSIGNOR TO GORDON MCKAY, TRUSTEE, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR STRETCHING AND'NOTCHING UPPERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO.. 229,986, dated July 13, 1880.

Application filed March 15, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD, of West Mcdford, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Machines for Stretching and Notchin g Uppers, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This invention relates to lasting-machines,

I0 and has for its object the production of a machine or apparatus to first grasp the upper at its toe when on the last and pull and stretch it beyond the toe of the last, the longitudinal movement of the last being then restrained,

and after the upper is stretched, and while so held, it is notched or pinked, after which the upper so pinked or notched at the toe is laid over upon and tacked to the inner sole in the regular way. This I have accomplished by the mechanism hereinafter described.

My invention consists, essentially, in the combination, with a stop for the last'and a clamp to engage and stretch the toe of the upper, while longitudinal movementor forward movement of the last is restricted, of a notching or pinking cutter to notch or pink the toe of the upper while it is held stretched.

In this my invention I have employed a pair of clampin g-jaws, which, after they are clamped upon the toe of the upper, are drawn longitudinally to stretch it, and the upper having been stretched, the cutters are operated to notch its toe part.

In lasting-machines such as represented in United States Patent to O. W. Glidden, No.

211,147, July 7, 1879, it has been customary to clamp the toe and sides of the upper and force the last down into the upper; but in such machines there is a difficulty in getting the 4 upper true upon the last, and the toe of the upper is always out at a fixed distance from the point at which it is first engaged by the clamps, and in practice it results that soft or thin places in the upper fail to become properly and uniformly stretched before the upper is out, which is the chief object of my invention..

In this my process the operator, with the upper about but not nailed to the last, holds or places the toe of the last against a fixed 5 part of the apparatus, (it may be the rear part (Model) of the cutters,) and while the upper and last are'so held by hand places the toe of the upper between the clamps, which seize and stretch it, the heel of the upper being at the same time drawn or fitted closely about the heel of the last.

Should the upper be soft or more elastic at some points than at others, it will be stretched unequally, which will be apparent to the operator by reason of the position that the upper, freeon the last, will assume with relation to the last; and to fit and draw the upper true to the last the clamp may be opened and the upper changed in position to be grasped at one or the other side of the center of the toe, 210- cording to which part of the upper is to be further stretched to equalize theleather. The upper when subsequently stretched and drawn evenly, as will be apparentto the eye, may be cut or notched. Figure 1 represents, in side elevation, partially in section, an apparatus for stretching the upper to the last prior to the lasting operation and for notching the toe of the upper. Fig. 2 is a partial front-end view thereof. Fig. 7 5 3 is an end view of the cutter, and Fig. 4 a section of the jaws and their pivot on the line 00 ac, Fig. 1.

The frame-work a is of suitable shape to sustain the working parts. The clamping-jaws b c are pivoted together by a pin, 61, the ends of which enter the sliding boxes 6, fitted in ways in the frame-work. The upper ends of these sliding boxes are pressed down in their ways by springs f. The 8 5 upper ends of the jaw-levers have pins 9, preferably provided with rolls h, that enter diagonal slots t in the jaw-closer is, composed of two arms pivoted to a reciprocating head, Z, at

2, and connected at their lower ends, so that 0 they cannot separate beyond acertain distance. Between the two arms of the jaw-closer is placed a spring, m. (Shown as a block of india-rubber.) This head I is connected with a rod, 92, extended through a sleeve, 0, pivoted 5 at the upper end of lever 17,,having its fulcrum at 3, and provided at its lower end with a roll,

4, that enters a slot, 5, in a segmentalor pivoted cam, A, having its fulcrum at 6. This cam has two other cam-slots, 7 8, that receive rolls 8 t, the former connected with and to operate the cutter-bed u, and the latter the sliding cross-head, upon which is screwed or fixed the notching-cutter B, herein shown as having but three notches.

The cam A is operated by the lever G and link a, and the lever and cam are retracted by the spring W.

The adjustable spring 0 permits the leverp to have its full range of motion, whether the upper stretches or yields more or less, and the nuts (1 according to their position, will so regulate the force of the spring 0 as to prevent tearing the upper as the clamping-jaws are being drawn longitudinally by thelever 1), this spring also acting to determine the extent to which the upper shall be stretched beyond the toe of the last, thereby insuring that the notched toe of the upper, when subsequently drawn over the toe of the last by pinchers or other lasting devices, shall lap the toe of the last and inner sole uniformly.

The spring m permits the serrated ends of the clamps or jaws to adapt themselves to the upper, be it thick or thin, without affecting the range of movement of the clamps or jaws when pulled longitudinally.

The upper is placed loosely upon the last, the bottom of the last is kept uppermost, the upper is held upon the last by the hand of the operator, the toe of the upper is placed between the clamping-jaws or pullers, the toe of the last is placed against the front side of the cutter B, the foot is put upon the treadle, the clamping jaws are closed, and while the toe of the last is stopped the toe of the upper is stretched as the jaws are moved longitudinally, and when the upper is properly, uniformly, and evenly stretched at the toe the further movement of the treadle will cause the cam A to move the cutter-bed and cross-head, causing the cutter to descend and cut or notch the toe of the upper with the proper number of notches.

The front face of the cutter serves the purpose of a rest for the toe of the last, to prevent it from moving longitudinally forward as the clamping-jaws or pullers stretch the toe of the upper, as described.

boots and shoes preparatory to lasting them,

the pivoted clamping-jaws to grasp the upper, combined with the two longitudinally-movable arms operatively connected therewith, substanti ally as described, whereby the arms first act to close the jaws upon the upper and then to move them longitudinally to stretch the upper, substantially as described.

3. In a machine to stretch the uppers of boots and shoes preparatory to lasting the same, the pivoted clamping jaws provided with pins or rolls, combined with the slotted reciprocating arms to act upon the said pins or rolls to first close the jaws and then move them longitudinally.

4. In a machine to stretch the uppers of .boots and shoes preparatory to lasting, clamping-jaws and their slotted arms to close them, combined with a spring to enable the jaws to adapt them selves to the thickness of the upper.

5. The clamping-jaws and their actuating arms and head, to which they are connected, combined with the spring 0 and means to operate upon it at one end to move the said head and clampingjaws longitudinally, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD.

Witnesses:

L. F. CONNOR, N. E. O. WHITNEY. 

